


Favorite Customer

by sevenofhearts



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan, The Trials of Apollo - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Flower Shop, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Fluff, I suck at tagging, M/M, Modern AU, Nico Is Oblivious, That was a bad comparison, and a dork, as always, based off a tumble prompt, because it appears that everything i wrote is frogging fluffy as hades, but we love him, flower shop au, hazel saves lives people, idk what to call that, nico doesn't do feelings, nico's shy, seriously, will works at a flower shop
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-22
Updated: 2020-07-22
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:00:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,008
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25452787
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sevenofhearts/pseuds/sevenofhearts
Summary: Will works at a flower shop, and Nico keeps coming in, every day asking for a single red rose.or in which nico as always sucks at feelings and is still adorable as heck and will deals with himprompt: you keep coming in here and asking for a single red rose and you're such a regular you just call me on the phone and i have it ready for you when you come in but i'm also very interested who you're buying all these roses for?
Relationships: Nico di Angelo/Will Solace
Kudos: 104





	Favorite Customer

**Author's Note:**

> hey  
> dont judge my titling skills bro i cant title  
> or tag  
> why  
> here you go

Will loved the way the flower shop looked at this time of day. The way the soft light streamed through the slightly tinted windows and lit up his plants was enough to relax him even at his tensest. He knew that the variety of plants in his store was probably the most diverse of any other shop in town, which wasn’t saying much, now that he thought about it, given that he was the only flower shop in town. Still, Will was proud of the diversity of his plants.

Will loved owning a flower shop, really he did, but sometimes it got dull. He wasn’t upset at it, he had expected that nothing particularly exciting would happen in a flower shop, but he wished that there was something else than the usual bouquet. It had been a slow day, and Will had gotten to finish tending to his plants in between customers.

The sound of familiar wind chimes signaled the presence of a new customer, and Will was snapped out of his thoughts. He looked up to see who had come in, to be greeted with the sight of a man, who he guessed was younger than Will, but only slightly. He was cute, no denying it, with his dark hair and pale skin, and Will put on his brightest smile. Cute Guy stopped for a moment, staring at Will, and then shook his head slightly. 

“How can I help you today?” Will asked in his cheeriest voice. 

Cute Guy paused, as if surprised by Will’s voice, and then spoke, with, Will noted, a hint of an accent that Will couldn’t quite place. “I-- Can I have a rose?”

“Of course,” Will said. “We have red, white, and pink, do you have a preference?” 

Cute Guy pondered for a moment, then spoke, a slight blush tinging his cheeks. ”Which one most signifies... romantic interest?"

Will's face fell just a little bit, and Will inwardly chided himself. It wasn't like it was _likely_ that Nico would get him a rose, so _why_ did Will feel so upset? "Red," he replied.

A soft smile spread across Nico's face. "I'll take that, then."

“How many?” Will asked, slightly dismayed at the fact that red roses were the most iconic sign of love, and if Cute Guy wanted one, well, Will decided not to focus on that. 

“One, please.” Cute Guy was blushing again, which Will found _really_ far more cuter than it should have been.

“Can I have a name for the order? Honestly, I don’t really need one for one rose, but hey, why break policy now? I can’t say I’m not the least bit curious.” Will really didn’t mean to say the last part out loud, but didn’t care enough to correct himself. 

“Nico di Angelo. You?” Will smiled. Nico. It fit him.

“Will Solace.” Will rang Cute Guy up-- he guessed he should call him Nico now. Will rang _Nico_ up, and handed him his rose, his mind lingering on the crushing fact that it wasn’t for him, then put a halt to that train of thought. He hadn’t even known the guy for more than five minutes. This was ridiculous. Will was so lost in his head that he barely heard Nico call over his shoulder.

“See you, Will.”

“Back at you, Nico,” said Will, smiling, and he couldn't couldn’t help but hope that he would see Nico the next day.

* * *

Nico, coincidentally, did come back the next day. Will smiled as he saw Nico coming in through the door. “How can I help you today, Nico?” he asked with a smile.

“Same as yesterday, Solace.”

As Will rang Nico up, he spoke, starting with the friendly banter that he initiated with all of his customers. “So, Nico, tell me about yourself.”

Nico shrugged. “Name’s Nico di Angelo, I work at a library, and I have a sister. Your turn.”

Will laughed. “As you know, my name is Will and I work at a flower shop. I have a half-sister named Kayla and a half-brother named Austin. I’m also bi, and if there’s a problem with that, I couldn’t care less.” Will raised an eyebrow at Nico, daring him to protest.

“No! I mean, it’s not a problem! I mean, I’m super gay, so um, yeah I don’t know why I told you that, but the point is, there’s no problem at all.”

This was possibly the best news that Will had ever heard, and he tried very hard to stop the elated smile that he _knew_ was crawling over his face. He was still, however, curious on who Nico was getting all the roses for, so he tested the waters. “Are you getting these for a special someone?” he asked, gesturing to the rose that Nico was now holding.

Nico blushed. “No, no special someone,” he said. “Bye, Solace.” Nico darted out of the shop before Will could ask anything else, leaving Will time to contemplate the information he’d gathered.

On one hand, Will was _elated_ . Nico liked guys _and_ he wasn’t in a relationship. On the other hand, _why_ would Nico be getting roses if not for a romantic purpose? Will certainly hoped that it wasn’t that Nico was trying to win someone over, because that just might be even worse than the ‘Nico being in a relationship’ issue. Will sighed, and moved it into the _deal with later_ section of his brain. For the time being, he needed to water his geraniums.

* * *

Nico came back every day for the next three weeks, always asking for the same thing, a single red rose. Will got entire conversations out of Nico, he even got Nico to _laugh_ at one of his lame jokes, but every time that he neared the topic of who Nico was getting the mysterious roses for, Nico made an excuse and left. Will’s curiosity was _killing_ him.

When Nico walked into his shop that day, Will was even more excited, as he had devised a plan earlier. “So,” he said subtly, as he rang up Nico’s daily rose, “You’ve come in every day for the last three weeks, buying one flower a day, correct?” At Nico’s nod, Will continued. “Well, what if you pre-ordered them? You could give me your number, and call ahead, and I’ll have your rose ready for you, plastic wrap and all. It really would save a lot of your time.”

Nico smiled, then a look of concern crossed his face. “I could still, like, come in though, right?”

Will nodded. “Of course. Couldn’t let my favorite customer disappear on me.” He shot Nico a big grin, and a smirk travelled across Nico’s face.

“I’m your favorite customer, am I?”

Will turned his attention back to the rose. “Don’t push it,” he said, but he couldn’t keep the smile off of his face.

They exchanged phone numbers (and Nico got all blushy, which was officially Will’s favorite way to see Nico now), and Nico walked out the door with a wave and a smile thrown over his shoulder.

* * *

“Hazel!” Nico shouted as he walked through the door that evening. “He gave me his number!” Nico added the rose to the vase in which he kept all of the flowers that he ‘forgot’ to give to Will. Really, he was just nervous, but he liked trying to convince himself otherwise. He had been going into the store every single day for the last three weeks, each time buying a stupid flower to give to stupid Will Solace, but _every_ time, he chickened out, and ended up bringing another flower home. 

“That’s great, Neeks!” his sister shouted, her voice slightly muffled as she moved around upstairs. “Take off your coat, it’s too warm in here.”

Nico rolled his eyes, but there was a smile on his face. “How did you even know I was still wearing my jacket, Hazel? You can’t even see me, I'm on a different floor.”

Hazel’s face peeked at him from the top of the staircase. “There. I can see you. Oh, Nico, not another flower. Our house isn’t big enough for all of these, Nico, this is the third vase.”

Nico blushed, shrugging off his jacket to reveal his black t-shirt. “I’m getting there, okay? I promise I’ll do it soon.” 

Hazel rolled her eyes so hard he could _feel_ it, and she walked down the stairs. “Yeah, well, if you could at least get rid of some of the flowers, that’d be great. I refuse to share a house with a slob.” 

Nico laughed and waved her off. He really would talk to Will, he just needed… time. He looked at Will’s contact and couldn’t stop the grin that spread across his face as he collapsed onto his bed, mind filling with thoughts of the golden-haired boy.

* * *

When Nico walked into the store the next day, Will already had his flower wrapped and ready to go. Nico reached for it, but Will laughed and leisurely held it out of his reach, which earned him a playfully annoyed look from Nico. “Hmm,” he said. “You know, Neeks, I’m kinda curious about something. Who’s getting these flowers? They’re really very lucky, these are _such_ nice roses.” Will wasn't really expecting an answer, he was just messing with Nico.

Nico blushed and ducked his head. Will took that to mean the usual, Nico was deflecting his question, but was surprised when he heard Nico speak in a soft voice. He mumbled something that Will couldn’t make out, but the firetruck red blush absolutely _covering_ his cheeks and neck made Will’s pleasant grin grow twice in size. “I’m sorry,” Will said through his smile. “What was that?”

Nico shot him a half-baked glare and said louder, but under no circumstances in a less embarrassed tone, “They’re for you, stupid.” Will thought it was impossible for someone to turn that red. “I’ve been meaning to give them to you every day, but you and your stupid pretty face just… I don’t know. I guess I’m nervous. And now my kitchen is practically overflowing with these demon flowers, which I don’t even _like_ , and I blame you completely.”

Will’s smile grew twice as big and twice as bright. “Those were for _me_?”

Nico ducked his head further and nodded. “I get that you don’t feel the same way, it’s okay, really, I just--”

Will cut him off “Don’t worry, Neeks, you drama queen, I like you too. There’s a coffee shop across the street, you wanna meet up there sometime?” 

Nico nodded, and Will smiled, marvelling at his luck. He was kind of curious, though, about why Nico hadn’t just _asked him out_ like a normal person, but he’d decided in the end that he didn’t really care as long as Nico ended up with him.

Three months later, Will stepped through the door of Nico’s house. He was going to have dinner with Nico and Hazel. Will had grown quite fond of Hazel over time, and he enjoyed talking to her. She gave off a very kind, but intimidating vibe that made Will respect her in an utmost fashion. He smiled as he greeted her, and then looked around himself. It was the first time he had visited Nico’s house, and he didn’t know what to expect.

* * *

His eyes landed on the art on the walls, the vibrant orange curtains (Will did _not_ approve), and finally, his eyes landed on the kitchen. More specifically, the complete _mess_ of flowers on the table. They were all dead roses. Dead _red_ roses, to be more specific. “Nico,” Will said. “What on _earth_ happened to your table?”   
Hazel at least had the manners to look a little ashamed, but Nico walked into the room completely at ease, looking at the table as if the tens of dead roses were completely normal. “Oh, those? Huh, I must have forgotten to get rid of them.”

Will laughed and ruffled Nico’s hair, earning himself an indignant squawk, but Nico leaned into him never the less.

**Author's Note:**

> ack thank you for reading this i appreciate it  
> i was gonna write this sooner  
> but im lazy af  
> no regrets  
> if you've read like 99% of my other notes you may know that ive wanted to do one of these forever so when i found this i wheezed like a deranged hippopotamus  
> have a good day  
> smile  
> you deserve it  
> thank you


End file.
